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Last Fall, Nvidia released the GTX 980M, the laptop equivalent of the GTX 980. While the 980M didn’t quite match up to its desktop cousin, Nvidia claimed it could reach 70% to 80% of the performance of the 980. Not content to merely narrow the gap between desktop and laptop performance, Nvidia will now be fitting laptops with the GTX 980, the exact same chip found in desktops. Starting in October, select laptops from MSI, Gigabyte, Asus, and Clevo will be available with the GTX 980.

Nvidia demoed the laptops running games like Tomb Raider and Shadow of Mordor, with side by side comparisons to desktops with the same chip. PCGamer reports that the laptops had nearly identical performance to their desktop counterparts. At their worst, some laptops had a 5% difference in performance, which can be attributed to components other than the GPU, such as a less powerful CPU. Laptops equipped with desktop-grade CPUs managed to turn in identical performance to the desktops. However, this performance requires the laptop to be plugged into a wall socket. On battery power, the 980 will deliver roughly the same performance as the 980M.

Every system the ships with the 980 will also come with an overclocking tool, to push the performance of the chip even further. How much the chip can be overclocked will be largely dependent on each laptop’s cooling system. The GX700 has gained attention for being the first watercooled laptop. It will be shipping with a GTX 980, and will be well suited to handle some serious overclocking.

Pricing information and exact release dates are not yet available but the following laptops will ship in the near future with the GTX 980.

ASUS GX700

Clevo P775DM-G

Clevo P870DM-G

Gigabyte Auros RX7Y4

MSI GT72

MSI GT80

Is this move to put desktop level GPUs into laptops going to give Nvidia an edge over AMD? Leave your comments below.

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